Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

burden of proof

Florida became the first state with a law that spells out that prosecutors, and not defendants, have the burden of proof in pretrial “stand your ground” hearings when Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Friday. The measure was among 16 bills that Scott signed, including a bill that gives students and school employees a broader right to express their religious viewpoint in schools. The “stand your ground” bill was fought by prosecutors who say it will make their job…

The Senate blinked in a fight over a standard of evidence, sending a fix to the state’s “stand your ground” law to Gov. Rick Scott. The House on Friday voted to “insist” that the Senate accept its amendment to Sen. Rob Bradley‘s bill (SB 128), which aims to streamline claims of self-defense. Last month, it OK’d the bill but changed the burden of proof to “clear and convincing evidence,” a lower threshold than the Senate’s “beyond a reasonable doubt,” to overcome self-defense. By Friday…

A Florida Senate committee overwhelmingly approved the latest attempt to expand the state’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law. On Thursday, the Senate Rules Committee passed the measure after advocates said it would stop unnecessary prosecutions. Opponents alleged it would stop a lot of necessary prosecutions, as well. Senate Bill 128 would allow gun defendants to demand pretrial hearings on their claims of self-defense, putting the burden of proof on prosecutors to prove the defendants used the guns not in self-defense.…